courses:ast402:star-formation
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| courses:ast402:star-formation [2026/06/04 01:11] – [Jeans Criterion] shuvo | courses:ast402:star-formation [2026/06/04 01:12] (current) – [Jeans Criterion] shuvo | ||
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| Diffuse HI clouds are generally stable against collapse because their masses are much lower than their Jeans mass, whereas the **dense cores** of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) often satisfy this criterion. | Diffuse HI clouds are generally stable against collapse because their masses are much lower than their Jeans mass, whereas the **dense cores** of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) often satisfy this criterion. | ||
| - | The **Jeans criterion** defines the critical conditions of mass and radius required for an interstellar cloud to undergo spontaneous gravitational collapse. | + | The following derivation starts from the **virial theorem** and identifies the point where gravitational forces overwhelm internal gas pressure. |
| **1. The Virial Theorem Starting Point** | **1. The Virial Theorem Starting Point** | ||
courses/ast402/star-formation.txt · Last modified: by shuvo